My ethos

I have been a food writer and editor for many years. I believe food should be easy to make, look good, taste good and do you good. I am passionate about creating delicious dishes that anyone can cook. I care about where our food comes from too: buying locally grown produce where possible and supporting ethical trading by purchasing Fairtrade imports when home-grown aren’t available.

Eat seasonal food to enjoy food at its very best. Not only will it taste better but you will be saving the planet too by reducing air miles and, therefore, our carbon footprint. If you want to buy foods that come from elsewhere, go for those with a longer shelf life - like pineapples or bananas - which can be shipped here, impacting far less on the environment than the delicate perishables, like strawberries, that have to be flown here. And, let’s face it, eating a sweet, juicy, fragrant strawberry, ripened on the plant picked and eaten within a day or two during our British summer is a joy. A half-ripe, semi-hard one with hardly any aroma, chilled to within an inch of its life is not a treat at all!

Apart from writing and editing, I am also a qualified further education teacher, a restaurant critic and a Great Taste Awards coordinator and judge, courtesy of The Guild of Fine Food. I have also recently started to train as a cheese taster and have passed my first exam so am now an Associate of the Academy of Cheese.